Monday courses

Summer 2018 Semester

Civil War Round Table [4 SESSIONS]

10:00–11:30 a.m., Moss A
Mondays: June 4, 11, 18, 25

The Mid-Missouri Civil War Round Table returns for its eighth summer with Osher@Mizzou, offering a sample of the monthly programs presented by its members at the Round Table meetings since 1981. Like other Round Tables across the nation, mid-Missouri’s is made up of professional and amateur historians and anyone else interested in the Civil War.

June 4: Ride with the Devil

Joan Stack will use the movie Ride with the Devil to discuss the role of the “Bushwackers,” the rebel guerillas in Missouri during the Civil War. She also will discuss the support the Bushwackers received from family and friends and how they were targeted by Union troops. Check the weekly newsletter to see when you can attend a showing of Ride with the Devil at Osher’s Friday Afternoon Film Festival.

Instructor: Joan Stack is the curator of the art collections at the State Historical Society of Missouri.

June 11: Civil War Prisons

In this session, Harold Miederhoff will explore the system of paroles, exchanges, the types of facilities used to hold prisoners and what it was like to be held as a captive. Of the approximately 150 “prisons,” five or six will be used to illustrate the different types. A few exotic escape plans will be explored. An alternative theory, besides malnutrition, will be offered for the high death rate at Camp Sumter at Andersonville, Georgia.

Instructor: Harold Miederhoff, a retired secondary education mathematics teacher, is a charter member of the Mid-Missouri Civil War Round Table. He has long been interested in the American Civil War.

June 18: Monuments, Memorials and Markers: To the Victor Go the Spoils

Commemorations of war are almost as old as war itself. And just as nations and warriors have sought to dominate their rivals, they have tried mightily to win the histories of their wars. The American Civil War is among the wars that have led to contentious, persistent campaigns to dominate the peace through the placement of monuments to the military – to memorials mourning their deaths in battle, and to historical markers interpreting the sites of battles, triumphs and surrenders. Americans are presently fighting the Civil War with renewed conviction and anger. Its monuments, memorials and markers are the battlegrounds. By far the greatest number of monuments and memorials commemorate the Confederate side. Their proponents say they honor the sacrifice of the southern troops and the military prowess of their leaders. Their critics point out that the Confederacy was engaged in treason, fighting to dissolve the Union and to maintain the institution of slavery. We will discuss the monument-removal controversies and the way they have, or have not, been resolved around the U.S. We will also consider the “slippery slope” argument. (If we remove General Lee’s statue today, will we take down Thomas Jefferson’s tomorrow? Who else’s statue and what other memorials could become the objects of controversy?)

Instructor: Von Pittman directed offices of continuing and distance education at three state universities, including MU, where he also taught in the College of Education and served as interim director of the Law Enforcement Training Institute. He has taught American history both online and in the classroom. In the Osher program, he has taught courses on Cold War espionage and the Civil War.

June 25: The Great Locomotive Chase

On April 12, 1862, James J. Andrews, a Union spy, and 19 Union soldiers in civilian clothes infiltrated northern Georgia and stole the Western & Atlantic R.R. steam engine, “General,” during a stop at Big Shanty station. Racing north toward Chattanooga, they planned on cutting telegraph lines and destroying railroad tracks and bridges. But Andrews had not counted on the General’s young conductor, William A. Fuller, who pursued the men who stole his train. Gene McArtor will tell us about “The Great Locomotive Chase.”

Instructor: Gene McArtor holds bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Missouri. He and his wife, Donna, have been married for 52 years. They have two sons, Steven and Michael, and five grandchildren.

Understanding Prejudice, Privilege and Power [4 SESSIONS]

1:30–3:30 p.m., Moss A
Mondays: June 4, 11, 18, 25

This course examines some of the ways that our personal and societal biases intersect with the notion of who has power and privilege in America. We will watch four documentaries: Ethnic Notions, which traces the history of racial stereotypes against African-Americans; In Whose Honor?, a story of activism about native people being used as mascots; Outrage, about the hypocrisy of closeted gay politicians; and Blacks and Jews, which presents the ways in which these two groups are perceived and illustrates inter-group interactions. Although this course builds on the Summer 2017 Osher course, “We’re All Prejudiced,” no prerequisite is needed. We will synthesize what we learn from films and class discussions to determine if and how our nation has changed in terms of its perception and treatment of those in targeted/oppressed groups. Also, we will look at our own and at societal challenges related to prejudice, privilege and power, focusing on personal and societal solutions. These solutions must take into account the fact that we will always be prejudiced, and that every day, we live in a world where power and privilege are conferred in large part based on the groups we belong to, many of which are not of our making.

Instructor: Professor emeritus of cultural diversity, Nancy F. Browning, taught the general education course “CD 200: Cultural Diversity in Modern America” to thousands of students at Lincoln University of Missouri for 16 years. In her retirement, she writes children’s books, hosts a gluten-free website, edits freelance, sings, dances, antiques, does needlework and spends time with family and friends. Of course, she attends and teaches Osher classes. Nancy also hosts Osher’s Diversity Book Club and diversity movies.